How to Find Your Brand’s Audience Online

Running a business is about delivering value to a unique audience and doing it in a way that few to no other organizations can match. The good news is that there are as many ways to do that as there are stars in the sky. However, if you don’t know your target audience, what motivates them, what they like, what they want, and what they need, only an incredible stroke of luck will bring your online branding efforts together. In business, we don’t like to rely on luck. It’s nice when it comes along, but this is business- not a roulette table.

So the question is, how do you find your target audience online?

How to Find Your Brand’s Online audience

Finding your target audience is about finding out who is most likely to be interested in what you do or sell. It means learning where they live, where they work, what they like and dislike, how much money they make, and what they need and want.

We want to be asking questions like:

  • Where does my audience spend time online? Offline?
  • How do they communicate?
  • What is their age range, profession, location, job title, and so on?
  • What are their lifestyle and personality?
  • What pain points prevent them from buying?
  • What guides the buying choices they do make?

In short, your goal is to know enough about the people in your target audience that if you were in the same room with them, you could speak to them casually and comfortably about how your product or service can fit nicely into their life and budget. The alternative to knowing these things is to waste valuable time and effort putting out messaging to a generalized audience or an assumed audience. But we want to help take the risky element of luck out of your advertising campaign and help you reach your audience with the following proven steps.

1. Start with the Customers You Have

Unless you’re just starting out, you should have already had a few customers. Begin by looking at the traits exhibited by those who’ve already proven their interest in your product. Start with those who have spent the most, those who are the easiest to communicate with, and have been loyal for the longest length of time. Reach out to them, both to let them know how much they’re appreciated and to ask them to answer a questionnaire. You may offer them discounts for filling out a survey or answering questions about who they are and what they like about your brand.

2. Speak in Terms of Benefits, Not Features

Suppose you were selling flashlights with belt clips and USB chargers. Rather than talk about how great these features are in your ad copy, talk about how your flashlights are easy and convenient to charge and that they are always close at hand no matter where you are. People who have specific wants and needs will find the features they need because they think about solving problems. By speaking to the buyer who always wants a light nearby that can easily charge when they sit down at their computer, you automatically draw in your target audience. In this way, you draw them in naturally. All you have to do from there is get to know them.

3. Gather Data on Your Audience

Once you’ve established who has bought your products or service already and started talking in terms of benefits rather than features, it’s time to start gathering data. Start sending out questionnaires just like in step one. Give them every opportunity to tell you who they are and why they enjoy buying what you’re selling. People love to feel like they are being listened to, and this is your chance to show them that you’re listening.

4. Send Out Surveys

Some people like to receive surveys, some don’t, and some are indifferent. You can incentivize them to answer by offering deals, discounts, and recognition. Make it worth their while to share information. After all, good customer data is worth its weight in platinum.

5. Look for Trends in Customer Feedback

It could be that your particular target audience doesn’t like being probed for information by merchants. It would be nice to know this ahead of time, rather than rubbing them the wrong way with spam. Reading up on customer feedback trends will help. Find out what’s the most accepted way to reach out to customers. Is it by saying “hi” on social media? Is it via email

questionnaires? Or should you offer them space to leave a review on your website? (Hint: Yes, you should.)

6. Own Your Niche

As mentioned, the key to success is delivering value in a unique way. The more specific your niche, the more connected your audience will be to your brand. The more niche-focused you are, the more loyalty your audience will exhibit- and the more confident you can be that your messaging is on-point.

7. Know the Competition

Every general of every army in history has had a portrait of the enemy leader on his mantle. The simple lesson here is the importance of knowing your chief competitors. Know their value proposition, their unique service and offerings, and their target demographics. By knowing these things, you can take their successes as lessons, avoid their mistakes – and most importantly, you can avoid confusing their target audience with yours.

To learn more about finding the most in need of and most interested in what you sell, get in touch today. Our branding experts at StratGrow can help you find your voice, grow your online audience, and start getting those five-star reviews today!